Red Moon
by Nessie - Pillow Biting Monster
Summary: Eshe,a 5yr old half-vampire,starts searching for information about her future with her parents.When she finally has her answers and seems like she'll have her happy ending, her luck turns upside down and she is in major trouble.Romance-action-Supernatural
1. Prologue

Prologue: Because Everything has to Start Somewhere…

I was leaning against the door of our family car, and was staring at the front door of our home… _Home_-for-a-while… Whatever. I was saying goodbye to the place I lived once again. We always did that. We changed house, town, country every few months, even weeks sometimes. If we drew too much attention to ourselves, we left immediately. My childhood was really strange. I grew up between two worlds. My parents were vampires… and I was not.

The two of them had known each other since they were children. My dad lived in Texas until the age of four, and then his parents decided to move to Alaska after his father was offered a job there. That's how he met my mother. She lived two streets down; they used to hang out in the neighborhood's playground. They became inseparable, literally joined at the hip. Nobody was surprised when they started dating in high school. Alem and Emma. Everyone was thinking it. They were just waiting for it to happen.

The perfect high school love story never lasted though. It took just a night for everything to change. A few drinks, a little snow and a hungry vampire. That's when my dad disappeared. Vanished, just like that. He didn't remember much about the time after that, but he knew the vampire didn't change him right away. He took him away from everything, and everyone he knew. My grandparents filed a missing person report. Everyone searched, and Emma tried to move on. His parents too. After a while, they gave up and returned to Texas, hoping it would help them heal. Maybe forget their son, like that were even possible. I never really knew.

But one day, he came back.

He looked older, different. His face was sharper, the childish characteristics were gone. And there was this other _minor_ detail. His skin tone. Alem used to have such a dark complexion. I've seen photos when he was a kid, most of them with mom. My dad always had this deep, chocolate brown color, but after the transformation it turned into a pale, washed out shade of what it used to be. His eyes had changed too. The beautiful grey-blue eyes became a haunting, yet breathtaking, amber.

Mom found out the truth quickly. He couldn't keep himself from coming back. How could he ever keep such a secret from her? Mom stopped caring about college, her future and everything else that used to be her life, the same moment he showed up. She didn't care about his monstrous nature. All she wanted to do was to drop out of college and be with him. Dad convinced her to continue college. In the meantime, he stayed in the shadows; he knew he couldn't simply step back into his old life. There would be so much he could not explain, too many questions he just couldn't answer.

Being in love with a vampire, they soon discovered, was far from easy. They may have managed to keep their relationship secret, but there was no way on earth they could hide what came next. Who would have guessed, mom could get pregnant with a vampire's child? Yeah, that's where I come in. Almost. There's some more.

My father tried to take care of her, even tried getting a doctor's consult, but…

What do human doctors know about that kind of thing after all? Let alone, he had to explain how in half a month of pregnancy, there was a five month old baby growing inside my mother. They put as much distance as they could from mom's hometown right away. He realized that the _innocent_ little thing inside her was sucking away her life. I could have lived without knowing that bit about my mom's pregnancy to be honest_… _

Day by day, she became weaker. There was no way it could be avoided. She loved me with all her heart, and could never have an abortion. The womb was too hard for a human doctor to cut, almost like vampire skin. The pink color she always had was gone and a sickening white was taking its place. Her swollen belly was like a sea of purple bruises. Her reddish-blond hair was losing its shine and until the end she tried to hide how much I was hurting her from my father.

When I was born, my father barely had enough time to turn my mother into a vampire. All the while, he was also trying to keep me far enough from her, so that I wouldn't be dangerous to her; or her to me. The only memories of my mother as human that I have are the three painful days of her transformation. Her constant screams night and day during her change, would have gathered a big crowd if we weren't hidden in a little house, which used to be where my mom went on vacation with her cousins every spring, deep in a forest in the Alaskan mountains. Fortunately, it was the middle of winter and there was always the danger of blizzards at any time, therefore, it kept humans away.

Her newborn year wasn't as hard as my father's. It seemed that her motherly instincts won out over her vampire ones. I was never in danger when I was around her. This also helped her develop her self-control early. After four solitary months that the three of us spent hidden away, mom had learned the ropes. We were able to make an appearance in the human world once again.

We tried to follow a more gentle diet. My father had a passion for human life; he saw people as… well, _people_, not food, unlike many others of our kind. Although he couldn't even remember the vampire that changed him, he had learned a few things about the sort of creature he was going to become and had a plan, a way to control his vampire nature.

Seven months after his transformation, he had the discipline to test his theory. He had thought of a better, at least for the humans, way to feed himself; drinking the blood of animals. It worked, so he followed this diet from that moment on, never looking back. The animal blood made his eyes change from a blood red to a warm, honey-gold shade, which made it easier to blend in the human world without drawing curious looks to himself.

When he went back to find my mom, he was still experimenting, so his eyes had barely changed to amber at that point. Mom's eyes turned gold faster than my dad's, around her eighth month as a vampire, since she adapted to this odd diet so well from the very start. I'm proud to say that I've never tasted human blood in my life. Sometimes, it was hard to resist the temptation, walking around unsuspecting humans. They would never know what hit them if I decided to make a move... I wasn't that kind of person though… I didn't want to be that kind of person…

Throughout my childhood, I was surrounded by people who loved me. My parents of course, but also most of the vampires we met as we traveled around. I found out I could win their affection very easily… They used to think my little gift and I were adorable. But I also lived with the worry for my future, and the painful fact that I didn't fit in anywhere. I didn't belong to the vampire world or the human one.

I was growing too fast to bond with humans. They would notice I was not normal. And obviously, the fact that I grew _at all_, automatically ruled me out of the vampire world as well. There were many things that made me different. I always had a temperature that was much warmer than normal humans were, but I was pale like a vampire. My eyes didn't change with my eating habits or my thirst. Their natural color was a bright, sky-blue, and my hair red with black streaks. Not that it mattered much; I happened to have a power or gift, however you looked at it. I could change my appearance at will.

The fact that I grew up too fast was also worrisome with nothing to base it on being I was the only "hybrid" we knew. On my first birthday, I already looked like a five-year-old. My growth has slowed considerably now, which is what allowed us to settle down for a longer time, and stay in the same place for the past year. Even though I was a bit short – blame mom for passing on the faulty height gene – I looked undeniably like a girl in her teens by my fifth calendar year.

Thankfully, my behavior wasn't giving away my true age either. Along with my rapid physical growth spurt came an equal amount of maturity. The phrase 'wise beyond her years' was more than true in my case. None of the many vampires we met knew what could possibly be wrong with me, or how it would progress as more years passed. I had something in mind, but preferred not to think about it. It was more than once that I wished I hadn't grown this fast. I always wondered what childhood was like for humans. If there were one thing I knew for sure, it would be that it was supposed to last longer. Maybe longer than I'd ever get to live.

"Eshe, honey, are you ready?" Mom nudged me, bringing me back to reality. I looked at her confused for a second. _Oh. Right. The car. We're leaving_ _again_, I realized.

I inhaled deeply and glanced for a last time at the little house, in the pretty and neat neighborhood where we'd hardly spent five months. _Goodbye. Maybe the next owners will stick around longer than we did._ "Yeah. Alright. Let's go," I said eventually.

I opened the door I was leaning against and grudgingly got in the car. The whole thing shook as I slammed the door shut. I never could fully control my strength. I didn't get the chance to really practice after all since we always lived in neat, little towns like this one with perfect neighbors. The sort of neighbors that'd wash their car and cut the lawn every Sunday. Just imagine the new girl they were so curious about acting odd. _Exactly my point._ It wasn't much of an option.

"Eshe, please, be careful." Dad grinned. "We've only owned the car a month," he teased.

I stuck my tongue at him as the engine roared to life. A brand new beginning. _Once again_. Not even fugitives get so many of these. I chuckled to myself. Oh well. _C'est la vie…_


	2. Chapter 1: An Answer

Chapter 1: An Answer

Route 2323 looked just like the route we were on before. And the one before. And before. I was getting tired. It had been more than thirty six hours that we were on the road. It hardly ever had an effect on my parents, but long rides by car always made me a little nauseous, especially when I hadn't had any human food.

I felt the car come to a halt and dad pulled the handbrake. I sat up and looked around.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

Dad grinned. Mom opened the compartment under her seat and took the familiar map from inside. "I believe we have to decide where we're going next," he explained.

I couldn't help rolling my eyes. "I can't believe you guys did it again. I thought we would stop leaving places without picking our next destination." I swear, my parents could act so irresponsibly sometimes! Made me wonder who was the five-year-old here.

"Why don't we go and get you some lunch, pumpkin?" Dad was already out of the car, holding open the back door for me. "And you get to pick where we'll go this time. Map's _all_ yours."

On our way to the restaurant, Mom handed me the map and a huge grin formed on my face. We never said it out loud, but I knew what was going on. Ever since they realized how fast I was growing, my parents and I started travelling as much as possible. I had this hunch that this wasn't only to cover the fact that we weren't humans. I'd heard them talking about it once. They always worried, day and night, about me. How long would I live? Would I be a grandma before I turned forty? Was I going to die? We had been all over the world. We had lived in more than ten different states. We had spent almost my whole fourth year in France and half a year in Sweden.

I didn't know the purpose exactly. Getting me to see as much as I could in case I had a shorter life span as a half-breed?

"Everything alright, sweetie?" Mom asked, nudging me. I'd fallen behind, staring at the map in my hands.

I smiled. "Yeah. Everything is great."

"Hurry up then. Your father's almost inside already." It was true. He was standing in front of the glass doors, grinning and waving at the two of us.

We picked a table near the window. The view wasn't anything special, the small parking lot was packed with the cars of everyone who had stopped to take a break from driving and behind it, cars drove fast across route 2323. We – or well, _I _– ordered something to eat and started searching on the map.

"I don't know which place to choose," I announced after a few minutes. Frustration was evident on my face. The tips of my hair curled and uncurled matching my mood, and I twirled it around my finger. At least I didn't have to worry about others noticing the abnormal length and shape changes of my hair; nobody was looking our way.

"It doesn't have to be in North America, Eshe. Anywhere. Australia. Asia. Anywhere! We can camp _on_ the Great Wall if you want!"

I shook my head in disbelief. "Summer's coming. The southeast we go, the sunnier it'll be," I pointed out. We had been south before. Of course, we hardly ever encountered others like us there, but it didn't matter. Mom and Dad just spent more time indoors and the rest worked out on its own.

"We can hang out with penguins if that's what you like it better!" Dad said in that sincere tone of his. I burst into nervous giggles.

By the time the waitress brought my lunch, I had managed to pull myself together. I cleared my throat and tried to act serious. "Honestly now, I have no clue where I'd like to go. I want to see everything."

"That's a good start," Mom agreed.

I thought for a second. "Hmmm… What about Italy? Florence maybe. Or Venice?"

Dad and Mom exchanged a look with each other. It was as if they'd created a language with their eyes. A language only the two of them knew. There was no possible way I'd understand what was going on in their heads, even if I could dig my way in there. Mom cleared her throat. "Um, well, sweetie… It's not a good season for Italy. I heard there are lots of tourists."

I shrugged. "And how could that be a problem for us?"

"We don't speak Italian either. It'll make things more difficult for us. How about Ireland, how does that sound?" Apparently, Italy was a lost cause, for a reason I would probably never know.

I sighed. "Too humid. Moldova?"

Both my parents nodded. "We could go there," Mom said and nodded. "We can head to the nearest airport from here."

"Sounds like a plan," Dad agreed. He lifted his glass in the air and then took a sip of the soda. We had been sitting there for a while, so he'd bought it for cover. I didn't know he was intending to drink any of it. His expression instantly changed to a hilarious smirk of disgust. "That tastes _horrible_," he whispered in a low voice only Mom and I could hear. We laughed at him, earning some odd looks from the waitress.

We didn't realize how quickly time passed, but when we went outside, it was already dark; the parking lot was almost empty, just like the inside of the restaurant. "We lost track of time, huh?" Dad asked as we walked towards our car.

I sped up a little to give the two of them some space. It wasn't really odd or awkward; it simply was the way Mom and Dad were with each other. I thought it was nice actually. They were a happy couple. Still in love. That was what mattered most. I didn't know if it was a _vampire_ thing, or simply an _Alem and Emma_ thing, but there hadn't been a single human couple I had ever seen, like my parents.

In the car, I pulled out a sketchbook. I was going to draw, for as long as I could see at least. I liked drawing; it was one of the things I was good at. I could draw objects and faces with extreme detail, so well they sometimes looked like actual photographs.

"Eshe, honey, that's not good for your eyes." It was funny how mom was so… _momsy_ with things like this. As if my eyes would get damaged by such a little thing as drawing in the dark. My vision was almost as good as a vampire's. I couldn't see in complete darkness, but if there's even a little light, I could see as well as I would if the sun was shining above my head.

I glanced down at my sketch for a last time. I had drawn the restaurant we went to, the waitress, some humans I'd probably never see again in my life. I put the sketchbook aside. Dad was humming the song playing on the radio and tapping the wheel with his fingers and Mom kept toying with her hair, a habit she kept, even as a vampire.

The image of the road spreading before us and my Dad's voice relaxed me. I was getting sleepy. My eyelids felt heavy and I yawned loudly. I was about to lay down on the back seat when something white flashed before my eyes.

"Dad, watch out!" I yelled. The car stopped sharply, and I almost got thrown to the front of the car.

"Eshe, are you alright?" Mom asked worriedly. She turned around instantly to check on me. I nodded and sat back.

"Fine… Just… I think I saw something. _No_. I definitely saw something." My eyes scanned the street ahead but the white thing, whatever it was, was nowhere to be seen. I jumped out of the car.

Mom was a step ahead of me. She put a hand on my shoulder, keeping me from going any further. "Eshe… Come on. It's probably nothing. You're not going off alone in the dark."

"Then you can come with me."

Before I could take another step forward, someone stepped into the street. "I'm sorry if I startled you," he stated. His voice was smooth as velvet, almost ringing in my head. His face looked smooth, spotless, perfect… and white. His eyes were a deep, burgundy shade. He was like us. Well, like my parents actually. Not like me. _Nobody_ was like me.

"Not many notice me when I travel." He smiled, revealing a row of perfect, white teeth. "Forgive me for eavesdropping."

I shrugged and my parents said it was no big deal. He introduced himself to us as Fred. He appeared to have been young when he was changed. He had a lean build, tall and thin. Kinda intimidating, I had to admit. He looked like the sort of vampire that could keep you away if he really wanted it.

To my surprise, he merely glanced at me, curious for a second, and then it was gone, replaced by a mask of seriousness. "Now that it's settled, I will be on my way," he started, ready to turn around.

"Would you like a ride perhaps?" Mom offered. "Which way are you heading? Maybe we could drop you off someplace."

He shrugged. "I was just leaving town. Usually just figure out the rest on the way."

_So classic! Was that just the way vampires _thought _things through? _I wondered, but tried to keep thoughts to myself and expression neutral. I had solid proof I was failing miserably; Dad chucked at the sight of my face and gave me a wink. Mom always used to say that my face was always a dead giveaway.

"Come on. It's not fun travelling on your own," Dad chimed in.

It didn't take long for my parents to convince Fred to come along. I still didn't know what to think about him. Instead of participating in the conversation, I took advantage of the fact that I was sitting in the back of the car with him to observe him. At the moment, he appeared to be the laid-back, go-with-the-flow type, but I believed that was not always the case for him. He made small talk, but didn't mention anything specific about himself. He kept his answers short and evasive to keep the discussion short or stop completely.

And there was this other thing that I found rather odd. For one, he hadn't asked a thing about my parents golden eyes. Secondly, he didn't even question _what_ I was? He definitely could tell I wasn't human. A vampire we'd met once, some woman called Ronda, had said that I had this sweet scent, not quite like a vampire's, but definitely pointing out I wasn't human. My parents had probably noticed as well that he asked none of the questions from the typical agenda. They respected each person's privacy though, especially a vampire's. Dad taught me not to push a vampire about their past or their opinions, even before he even taught me not to talk to strangers.

After merely an hour or so, the conversation died out completely and I was getting more and more sleepy once again. I couldn't usually sleep well in the car. It felt a bit as if I was awake, just unable to participate in anything happening around me. I recognized Fred's voice as he started talking.

"Is she alright?" He asked.

"Of course," Dad said. "Don't worry about her not talking to you. She gets shy around strangers sometimes."

"No, it isn't that. Her heartbeat. Isn't it a bit too fast?"

_So he _did _wonder after all!_

"That's what it's always like. Eshe's different."

"She is," Fred agreed. "I've heard of these children."

The wheels of the car squealed as Dad took a sharp turn. I was too absorbed to pay attention to the car's course. I was sinking into deeper slumber, half-listening, half-dreaming, but I didn't want to miss out on the conversation.

"_You have?_" They both asked in unison.

"Rumors travel around. I don't know specifics. It is none of my business."

"What was it exactly that you heard?" Dad asked, more gently.

"That they aren't like vampires. They age? And something about the Volturi." I wondered what _the Volturi _was. It didn't ring any bells. My parents on the other hand, seemed to recognize it.

"What about them?" Dad spat, hissing through clenched teeth.. He said it in such a secretive way, sneaky, as if _the Volturi _could hear him right this instant.

"Something about a coven almost getting wiped out because of one of them."

My parents didn't ask more. They realized that this was as far this conversation could go. Maybe Fred knew more. Maybe not. For the time being, there was no way for us to know.

Much later than night, almost at dawn, I found myself in a sleeping bag, inside a purple tent. The tent was familiar, my parents and I used to camp around a lot; what bothered me was that I didn't remember how I actually got inside it.

I unzipped the front of it, still curled inside my warm sleeping bag, and looked through the mesh window. Trees, trees and more trees. Oh, and our car a few meters ahead. Mom and Dad probably set up the camp while I was asleep. I jumped up leaving the tent, to find my parents near the car, talking to each other. I tried to put an order to my messy bed head, but it was a lost cause. My hair had curled in my sleep and felt like a big, tangled mass decorating my head at the moment.

"Why did we stop?" I asked them. They knew I couldn't get a good night's sleep in the car, but we were heading to the airport anyway. So, it probably was something else.

"There might be a slight change of plans," Dad said, his tone laced with worry.

"So we won't be going to Moldova?" I didn't know if I was disappointed. I mean, I hadn't lost anything after all. If it isn't Moldova, it would be someplace else. Wherever we went would be nice. I wanted to see everything; it didn't matter much to me what order we traveled the world.

"We'll see, sweetie. We might head someplace else before leaving for Europe."

"Cool. Where to then?"

"Um…" Dad hesitated. "We're not sure yet."

"What?" That was beyond abnormal for my somewhat organized parents. They liked not making plans when they weren't necessary and act spontaneously, but changing plans they had actually _made_… Well, that was something new.

I had that feeling in my gut that this had something to do with something Fred had possibly told them. I was sure I heard something in the car, but I just couldn't remember. Everything was too fuzzy and my head was still heavy with sleep.

"Where did Fred go? Did he leave?" I asked, realizing he wasn't here.

"No. I don't think so. Did he say he was leaving, Emma?"

Mom shrugged. "I got the feeling he was coming back," she said.

"I'm going to take a look around then. 'Kay?" I asked, but was strolling away already without waiting for an actual reply. The day was cloudy and our camp was pretty close to the street; anyone passing by slowly could notice us. The woods though, grew thicker the further inside you went. I could hear a loud, buzzing noise, and my curiosity would kill me if I didn't find out its source.

When I was sure I was completely under cover from human eyes, I ran. And by that, I meant _ran. _Real running, not what humans were able to do. I was slow, compared to a vampire, but the feeling was just intoxicating. I was so overwhelmed that I hardly even noticed that the path had disintegrated from a previous rainfall possibly.

Before I knew it, I was slipping down a rough slope and seemed to gather speed as I slid. _That's it, I'm going to fall_, I thought. In the end, I barely managed to stop at the edge of a cliff, grabbing the trunk of a thin tree nearby.

_That was close!_ My heart was racing and I didn't dare try to get up. I felt a shift in the air behind me and my head snapped in its direction. Something was moving.

"Get up. Your parents won't be trilled if you fall over the waterfall." It was Fred. I couldn't identify his expression. He didn't sound worried, or mad, or happy to see me. Just nothing. Plain and simple.

He probably realized I got quite a scare after just staring at him for several minutes, and from the fact I didn't utter a single word or made any moves whatsoever. He took hold of my arm and brought me to my feet easily. In the morning light, he seemed even taller. I could swear he was twice as big as I was.

"I think I should head back," I said. "Thank you."

Fred didn't say anything, but he followed me back to the camp. I didn't know if he did it to make sure I wouldn't accidentally throw myself off another cliff, or if he was going to head there anyway. Thankfully, neither of us mentioned anything to my parents. They'd go _mental_ if they heard I could have possibly gotten myself badly injured by just walking around on my own. They just shook their head when they saw me all covered in mud, as if they knew what happened, but didn't ask.

We remained camped out there for a couple more days. I noticed the street nearby wasn't exactly what people called a main street. There hadn't been a single car coming through; at least not when I was there. I found a different path to the waterfall, one that didn't involve slipping across a muddy slope and getting yourself _thrown_ intothe water.

The view was intimidating and beautiful. The waterfall seemed to be falling into a canyon. The water probably was deep too. I felt relief just by knowing I was _up here_ and not _down there_. Although, it was obvious that nothing about vampires being unable to cross water was true, I wasn't much of a water person myself. I appreciated nice, dry land.

"Intending to go cliff diving, are you?" At the sound of Fred's voice, I tensed and squared my shoulders.

"You tend to spook people, do you know that?" I asked him, without looking at him. It wasn't the first time he had snuck behind me. It was his way of moving around, and I usually heard him, even if it was at the last second, but it wasn't as easy with the buzzing of flowing water so close.

"I've been told that before."

"Can I ask you something?" I started. The questions about that vampire were gnawing on me from the inside.

"Is there some way to get around it?"

"I don't think so. No." I meant it to sound teasing, but it came out as pretty serious. He made a motion with his hand, as if saying, _Fine, ask away!_

So I continued. "Aren't you curious about me? I have met other vampires, and they all would keep bombarding either me or my parents with questions. So why not you? Don't get me wrong, it's a nice change… but I don't get it."

"If you had started the way I did… You wouldn't be asking questions. The less you ask about others, the less they'll care about you. And that's the best way to move forward."

I lifted my eyebrows. "Still don't get it."

"You'll grow up. I think. You'll get it one day." He was about to leave.

"Actually, I will die. Probably faster than humans do. I don't even know where I'll be by the time I become fifty." That seemed to get his attention. After three days, and I finally had some reaction from him!

"How do you know?"

"Well, it's myself I'm talking about. I know a couple of things."

"I heard something about one of you giving trouble to… some vampires… let's say in the highest ranks. Heard it was an old one too. Your parents asked me if I knew more about it."

"_Do you?_" I couldn't help it. If he knew something that could tell me how much I had to live… I'd take it. Whatever the cost.

"I heard a name. But I might have gotten it wrong."

_Was he _kidding _with me? _"Whatever. I don't care. I… My parents will think of something. We'll search. What do you know?"

"When that… incident happened, rumors spread." I nodded, as if I knew what the incident was. I wanted to get to the part that was interesting me. "The names of some vampires. I don't know anything more than the name, because I never tried to learn more. Do you understand that?"

I nodded urgently. I'd rather jump off the cliff than wait any longer. Why couldn't he tell me already?

"I believe the name was Zafrina. She was there. Maybe she knows more. But I have no clue where you can find her."

I felt my eyes water. Unlike my vampire parents, I could get into all sorts of uncomfortable situations, such as burst into tears or blush a hideous shade of red that contrasted my pale skin. I threw myself at him and hugged him tightly. He didn't seem to be expecting that. "Thank you," I whispered.

I shared with my parents what Fred told me right away. Fred was out of there before my parents could get to thank him, or worse, _hug _him, just like I did.

The searching began. Moldova would have to wait. Dad contacted as many of his vampire friends he could find and we asked all vampires we found on our way. Not that there were many just _walking down the street_. We travelled around, with no specific course for the next two months.

Our goal? To learn where we could find that mysterious Zafrina.

I was about to give up. What was the point? We were looking for a vampire, who could have been hiding away since the _incident_, or whatever it was that had happened. My parents didn't know any more about it than I did. But then, we found someone who knew after all. A vampire who had helped us set up in a small town in Canada at my first year, Lena. We finally got our answer. Moldova would _definitely _have to wait now. Amazon, here we come!


	3. Outtake 1 Between Chapter 1 & 2

Early December – Amazon Jungle, South Brazil

The old man was sitting by the riverside, weaving a basket. The air was even more moist near the water. Beads of sweat were running down his forehead. The busy twittering of the birds was pleasant in his ears, the jungle's sweet melody. The swooshing behind him didn't even make him turn. He could hear it alright, but there was nothing he had to worry about. The sound could be nothing more than an opossum. After all, Lilen, his little treasure, would be there if he was in danger.

Lilen… she was such a precious child. Aku wasn't really her father. He'd raised her as his own though. He took her in when she was still a baby, a little, crying bundle, placed right by the river. Not too far away had been who he assumed was her mother, probably having bled to death hours ago. He'd brought the baby to his village, but as soon as everyone heard about the mother's unfortunate ending, the baby was called a demon. Aku, refusing to let go of her, left, bringing her up in the jungle the best way he could.

She might have been a demon, like his villagers had said. She had a kind soul though. She grew up fast and was curious to explore and learn, always trying to help him, even when she couldn't. She was a strong and fast child, always understanding what had to be done right away, far more intelligent than her years should allow.

He smiled as her childish face took shape in his head. His daughter was no demon. She was a child with an heart of gold, far better than the children in that village could ever be.

A shady figure crept over him.

Before he could turn to look, Aku was grabbed by his neck, gripped so tightly he was gasping for air. The hands holding him were cold, sending shivers down his spine. Lilen's picture evaporated as terror overtook him.

"Por favor…" he stuttered, trying to push the hands away.

"Where is she?" the voice hissed.

Aku's eyes widened as more figures gathered around him. They stood around quietly, wrapped in dark cloaks, pale and still as if marble statues. His lip trembled. "Eu não posso falar bem Inglês…"

"Oh, you can speak English just fine," the cold voice hissed.

"Eu não posso falar bem Inglês, eu não posso falar bem Inglês…" he repeated over and over again.

"Let the man breathe, Demetri. He can't go anywhere anyway." This man's voice was calmer, like flowing water, and Aku thought it had a hint of madness in it too. Aku was released suddenly, causing him to lose his balance, staggering, and then falling hard into the thick underbrush. "Onde está a menina?" the crazy man said.

Aku felt his hands shivering. That he could understand. A menina… The girl… My little Lilen!

"Ah, see? You don't have to pressure him. He understands fine. Look at his face."

Aku's dark eyes met with the decided crimson ones of the madman. These were the real demons. He'd met one before. She wasn't as menacing though. She was the aunt of Lilen's half-brother. Almost Lilen's aunt really. She took good care of Lilen while she was living with her and her brother. These demons didn't look the same. He didn't trust them at all. They felt cold and distant... evil. Yes, that was the word. Evil.

He shook his head. They weren't going to take his little treasure away. She had helped him countless times; she seemed to take better care of herself than he could. The least he could do was to protect her this once.

"Aaah, so he knows. Where is she?" the madman inquired.

Aku shook his head again.

The madman came closer. He reached for his hand. "We know she lives with you. You can't hide her. She'll show up sooner or later."

Aku understood only bits of his words, as he knew very little English himself. Lilen knew more. Involuntarily, he felt this morning's events flooding his head. Lilen smiling and hanging upside down from the trees like a wild animal. Lilen kissing Aku's cheek and saying, "Eu te amo, Papa," just before leaving to get water.

He knew some demons could do things. Even his sweet little Lilen could. What if these demons could tell just from his thoughts?

"The girl went for water," the demon with the mad look announced, letting go of Aku's hand, a smug smile on his face. The demon behind Aku shifted. He raised his hand. "No, no, you don't need to get her. She'll be here on her own soon enough. We'll just sit and wait."

Lilen was dusting her white dress off, although it was already far too smeared with red to hide it. Yes, indeed, she was sure Papa knew about it already, but as long as he said nothing, she wasn't going to give it away. She did feed on humans sometimes. Usually she would go for human food, eat with her Papa because she knew that this way he was happy. There were some sorts of food that she liked anyway.

She wondered if Papa knew it was one of those days. She usually needed just half the time to get the water and come back home. Before leaving, she picked up a pineapple from the ground and easily cracked it open. She let some of the juice spill on her dress, on purpose. She had to do at least some effort to cover the blood.

Unlike most times, she hurried to get back, running through the jungle but trying not to spill the water at the same time. She easily caught the foreign scent as she neared home. Smelled somewhat familiar, a little like aunt Huilen. Of course, Huilen wasn't really her aunt; she was her brother, Nahuel's, aunt. The scent reminded her of vampire. She set the pot with the water on the ground by the door and carefully followed the scent.

All of a sudden, Lilen felt the need to be completely silent. She kept walking until the sound of flowing water reached her. She ducked, hiding herself into the thick bushes. Papa… she thought, seeing Aku standing at the bank, a terrified expression all over his face.

She'd never seen him like this; not even when Nahuel had asked to take her, show her a different way of living. Not even when she asked Aku herself, if she could go with Nahuel for a while.

She noticed shadowy figures around Aku. They wore dark cloaks, far too warm for this climate. These must have been the vampires. What did they want?

"Master— perhaps— we should go looking now?" The voice seemed to belong to a girl, not too old. The way she spoke was sharp, clipped, as if it could slice through diamonds. "She's not going to show up."

Lilen bit her lip to keep herself from making any sound. They were looking for her. She could understand English, unlike her Papa. Nahuel had taught her a little in the short time they'd spent together; although, Lilen was stubbornly refusing to speak English herself.

"Patience, my Jane. She will be here sooner than you realize."

Lilen sunk lower in her hiding place. If she could smell them, they probably could smell her as well. They could hear her heartbeat. They could feel her breathing. Of course, she could run. But if she ran, what would happen to Aku?

No. She had to get out there.

Without thinking twice about it, she stood up and walked out of the bushes. Twelve heads turned to look at her. Eleven of them were pale with deep, crimson eyes; the twelfth was Aku's, his tanned face losing its color and his eyes widening like a fish at her sight.

"Não. Vá! Corra!" he called to her, shooing her away.

Lilen recognized the words, but tsked at him. She wasn't going to go anywhere.

One of the vampires smiled at her, his eyes locking with hers. She somehow got the feeling that he was the leader of them all. Lilen opened and closed her mouth a few times, unsure of what to say. She took a deep breath. "You want to get out of the jungle," she said. Her voice was heavy and the English words rolled awkwardly off her tongue. She felt like she was doing it all wrong, but this was her last chance to help Aku. It had to work. "There is nothing that you need here. You have to go back."

The head of the vampires seemed amused. It wasn't working; none of them seemed to be influenced. She shivered, finally afraid. She thought it might not work on vampires, but she never had the chance to practice it anyway. She couldn't try to hypnotize aunt Huilen, now could she? Of course not.

She took a deep breath and continued. "The trees are closing in. They make you suffocate. You want to leave."

The vampire laughed. "Look at that! What a beauty! She does have potential. Yes, yes, needs a little practice, but she'll get there." He turned to Aku. "Kill him. He isn't needed for us anymore."

Lilen was trembling. She was trying to remember every English word she had ever heard. "If…" she started, her voice almost a whisper. "If you kill him, I won't do what you want." She shook her head and took a few steps back, feeling the safety of the trees behind her.

A smile formed on the vampire leader's face. "As you wish," he said, offering Lilen his hand as he bended down into a slight bow. He came closer. "You have my word. But I do promise you that if you try leaving us, we'll get him, before we get you."

Lilen nodded and shaking off the nervous feeling running down her spine, she took his hand... "I understand. I'm coming with you."

"Não! Lilen, não vá!" Aku shouted at her, finding himself instantly under the grip of the same demon who'd first grabbed him.

"Eu te amo, Papa," Lilen said for one last time and turned around, led away from home, surrounded by the foreign vampires from all sides.


End file.
